The Vanishing

A tragic portrait of a disappearing world, created with all of the great Janine di Giovanni’s passion and literary grace -- Salman Rushdie
Janine di Giovanni, a former winner of the Courage in Journalism prize, is a shining example of the dwindling band of investigative reporters -- Martin Chilton * independent.co.uk *
di Giovanni brings a compassionate perspective to her narrative, interweaving complex, sometimes dense history with evocative vignettes and interviews * Economist *
Extraordinary ... di Giovanni has a fine way of capturing landscapes and people * Spectator *
Janine di Giovanni is a humane and persistent witness who knows when to stand out of the way, has a unique ability to be both unflinching and tender and, most importantly, never forgets that war is always a human tragedy. And because the story of Arab Christians is also the story of the Arab Middle East, the book is a record of the painfully fractured region, the consequences of war and foreign intrusion, of which its peoples, of all faiths, but particularly its minorities, have suffered most -- Hisham Matar
Profoundly moving -- Mark Tully
Janine di Giovanni’s beautifully written and deeply researched study of Christian communities in Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and Egypt is important not only for what it reveals about those vital but largely effaced communities, but also for its careful examination of an issue that is far more complex - as so much is in the Middle East - than typically presented or understood … A compelling and powerful study -- Sara Roy
Gorgeously written and deeply felt -- Elle Hardy
Janine di Giovanni, a former winner of the Courage in Journalism prize, is a shining example of the dwindling band of investigative reporters * independent.co.uk *
Each book of hers should be required reading … In addition to contextualising the conflicts, Janine shared the human stories … She exposes what we find so hard to confront in humanity * Tablo, The Secret Life of Writers *
Moving and insightful * Catholic Herald *
The Vanishing is unique because di Giovanni is not seeking a solution, and indeed knows there may not be one. As a war reporter for 30 years she knows the reality of man ... I like The Vanishing because it’s true, and people in the West need to read the truth, even if they don’t like it and can’t do anything about it * First Things *
Praise for Janine di Giovanni: It is crucial to reveal the human stories behind the news - and Janine di Giovanni does this with heartbreaking eloquence -- Elif Shafak * Financial Times *
Like the work of the Belarussian Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, Ms. di Giovanni’s book gives voice to ordinary people living through a dark time in history * New York Times *
Such reporters as Giovanni, who not only visit but also live (and often die) through wars not their own, are heroic -- Robin Yassin-Kassab * Guardian *
Few writers can match her evocations of individual suffering in wartime * Newsweek *
Compelling reportage at its best * Economist *
Janine di Giovanni has described war in a way that almost makes me think it never needs to be described again -- Sebastian Junger
Read this book and you may begin to understand what war looks and feels like * Spectator *
Janine di Giovanni writes with unblinking courage about war, death, marriage, motherhood, loss, love, redemption, fear - indeed, about all the world's most pressing risks and dangers ... Her writing here (as ever in her remarkable career) is a great and important achievement -- Elizabeth Gilbert